THE WORLD BANK has appointed economist Manuela V. Ferro as its vice president for East Asia and the Pacific to oversee the lender’s operations as it looks to help the region rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
The multilateral lender said in a statement on Thursday that Ms. Ferro will handle bank relations across 26 countries in East Asia and the Pacific and its $40-billion lending portfolio in the region.
She will also oversee the bank’s operations across East Asia and the Pacific as they help countries recover from the impact of the pandemic and address rising unemployment and inequality.
“The World Bank has been a long‐time partner in East Asia and Pacific and is committed to supporting the region’s recovery at this critical time. As Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, I look forward to forging strong partnerships with countries and development partners,” Ms. Ferro was quoted as saying in the statement.
The World Bank said the newly-appointed senior official “is known for her strategic leadership, a track record of impactful country programs and a history of forging productive partnerships with client countries and development partners.”
Prior to her new assignment, Ms. Ferro was previously the vice president for operation policies and country programs of the World Bank, leading its pandemic crisis response.
She also held a number of leadership positions in the World Bank, with more than three decades of experience across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East and South Asia.
Ms. Ferro secured her doctorate in development economics from Stanford University and an engineering degree from the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal.
Since the coronavirus pandemic struck in March 2020, the World Bank has released $157 billion to help countries respond to the health, economic and social impact of the crisis. — BML